Sen. Christopher Dodd Answers Two Cents Readers’ Questions

Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., a Democratic presidential candidate, answered questions posed by Chronicle Two Cents readers at a Dec. 9 event in San Francisco sponsored by the World Affairs Council and The Chronicle. Here are some audio excerpts:

Chronicle readers were passionately interested in how Dodd would return the United States to the rule of law and restore our constitutional protections, especially those affected by FISA and that the Bush administration had asked telecoms to spy on the American people. Here’s what Sen. Dodd had to say:</p

Dodd also spoke at length about his past experience, and challenged the idea that Americans want a leader who hasn’t been tainted by Washington. George W. Bush is proof of the fallacy of that argument, he suggests.

As long as we can glorify our confrontation in Iraq, it makes us a target for the jihadists, Dodd told the audience. The signal from Iraq needs to be that a new course is necessary and it is time for us to redeploy our troops.

The issue is not about providing security in Iraq, it is about the sense of security that the Iraqis will be able to provide their own security, he said. Biden’s idea of a loosely federated state of Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds will only work if it comes from the Iraqis themselves.